Don’t let the red tape stop you from blessing a bureaucrat

A couple of years ago I declared the inaugural ‘Bless a Bureaucrat Day’ in support of the many people whose jobs are behind the scenes and who often go unnoticed (unless they have to make an unpopular decision) and unthanked.

Following an amazing meeting with some of the senior people at our local Council on Monday I want to declare today the second Bless a Bureaucrat Day.

I encourage you to thank the person on the end of the phone who has dealt with your query at a call centre, even after you have negotiated the complicated push button selection process to speak to a human being. Be gracious to the person at the Council who has to field a complaint about your bin not being emptied. Encourage the person at the station who has to tell you that your train has been delayed or cancelled. Pray for the person who wrote to you informing you that your tax return is due (or at least the person who entered your information into the database that generated the letter. And so on…

Administration is listed as a Spiritual Gift, yet it often goes unnoticed (when done well) and unappreciated (because we didn’t notice because it was done well). Having an attitude of gratitude towards people who largely only get grumpy people complaining at them can make all the difference to their day. I remember being on an appalling train journey which was punctuated by cancellations, delays and transfers from trains to buses and back again. At one station, where we were being urged onto coaches again, one passenger took out their frustration on the poor person who was trying to make sure we all got onto the right bus or coach. They almost physically recoiled at the insults hurled at them. I was a couple of people behind them and when I reached them I looked them in the eyes and told them that I thought they were doing a brilliant job in difficult circumstances and I appreciated the politeness they were showing to all of us. The smile I got back warmed my heart too.

So, bless a bureaucrat. And if you run out of them, bless someone else too.

Be blessed, be a blessing.

From the Urban Dictionary:

Bureaucracy